desegregate

verb

de·​seg·​re·​gate (ˌ)dē-ˈse-gri-ˌgāt How to pronounce desegregate (audio)
desegregated; desegregating; desegregates

transitive verb

: to eliminate segregation in
specifically : to free of any law, provision, or practice requiring isolation of the members of a particular race in separate units

Examples of desegregate in a Sentence

efforts to desegregate the town's buses Eventually the city's schools desegregated.
Recent Examples on the Web But after schools across the US were ordered to desegregate, many of the Rosenwald schools became vacant and faced demolition. Nicquel Terry Ellis, CNN, 1 Feb. 2024 General Becton was serving in the Army reserve in Maryland in the summer of 1948 when his base commander read aloud President Harry Truman’s executive order desegregating the military. Trip Gabriel, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2023 Another 3,000 or so trained at the camp until the Marines were desegregated in 1949, according to a 2005 article in a Naval Institute magazine. Graham Womack, Sacramento Bee, 22 Feb. 2024 Businesses eager to return to normalcy agreed to desegregate Nashville's public places in May of 1960, becoming the first major Southern city to do so. USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2024 Freedom Riders targeted Route 40 establishments, and 47 restaurants between the Delaware Memorial Bridge and Baltimore agreed to desegregate by November 1961. Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun, 13 Feb. 2024 Though a federal mandate required the streetcars to desegregate in the nation’s capital in 1865, drivers often refused to stop for Black passengers. Cynthia Greenlee, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Feb. 2024 Carnival krewes in New Orleans did not desegregate until 1992 when a Black City Councilwoman named Dorothy Mae Taylor authored the ordinance to integrate Mardi Gras and challenged the elitist, racist practices embedded in Carnival. Cierra Chenier, Essence, 12 Feb. 2024 According to the Museum of African American History in Boston, the school fell into disrepair through the years and the Black community petitioned the Boston Primary School Committee for years to desegregate primary and grammar schools in the region. Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 2 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'desegregate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1949, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of desegregate was in 1949

Dictionary Entries Near desegregate

Cite this Entry

“Desegregate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desegregate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

desegregate

verb
de·​seg·​re·​gate (ˈ)dē-ˈseg-ri-ˌgāt How to pronounce desegregate (audio)
: to eliminate segregation in
especially : to end by law the isolation of members of a particular race in separate units
desegregate city schools
desegregation
(ˌ)dē-ˌseg-ri-ˈgā-shən
noun

Legal Definition

desegregate

transitive verb
de·​seg·​re·​gate dē-ˈse-grə-ˌgāt How to pronounce desegregate (audio)
desegregated; desegregating
: to eliminate segregation in
specifically : to free from any law, provision, or practice requiring isolation of the members of a particular race in separate units

intransitive verb

: to become desegregated

More from Merriam-Webster on desegregate

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